Kiam Ko's Boarding School for the Gifted
by Colorful Magic
Summary: Elphaba travels to Kiamo Ko to attend a boarding school on a scholarship. One of the conditions: she must tutor one of the students.
1. Chapter 1

Elphaba sighed and rolled onto her stomach. A new boarding school. That was something she would need to get used to. Never had she imagined that she would be sent out of Munchkinland: to the Vinkus no less! She would be attending Kiamo Ko's most prestigious boarding school riding a full scholarship.

She was shocked after reading the letter, as was her family. Frex looked confused at the thought of such a grand school wanting his oldest daughter, but the thought of sending her away was too good to resist. Elphaba could shame the family no further. He would simply hire someone to tend to the housework and help Nessa. An easy replacement.

Nessarose, Elphaba's tragically beautiful sister, was upset. "Papa," she angled her wheelchair in front of Frex, "why would they want Elphaba? Why was I not invited? It is simply neither fair nor just to send her to such an amazing institution!"

Frex sighed and opened his mouth to speak, but Nessa was not finished. "She can't go. She must take care of me. Who else is there to tend to the house and I when you are away?" Nessa pouted, this time waiting for a response.

Elphaba, wanting to leave the room, cut in, "I'm going to put some tea on, Father." Frex waved his hand in dismissal, and she scurried out of the room, her head held low.

"Nessie," Frex started, "I'm doing this for you. Elphaba is a blemish to our family's name. I promise you, I'll find someone who is much more qualified to help you." He gave her a strained smile, hoping she'd accept his little reasoning. After a few seconds, she nodded and squeezed his hand.

Frex and Nessa continued to chat until Elphaba returned with tea. She poured two cups before bidding Nessa and her Father goodnight. She flopped onto her bed, not at all surprised at what she had overheard. Her father hated her, that she already knew, and Nessa figured that if Elphaba were gone she could live a normal life.

Pulling out the letter, Elphaba read it again:

_Dear Miss. Elphaba M. Thropp,_

_I write this letter to you, and implore you to accept this chance. Here in Kiamo Ko, we have been searching for students thirsting for knowledge. In our search, we sent several tests to public schools in Oz, including Munchkinland. You scored highest, not only in Munchkinland, but most other schools as well. _

_After farther background checks – for securities reasons, I assure you – we were quite impressed with your studious manner. It is because of this, that we would like to extend a full scholarship to you – under some conditions, which are as follows:_

_-Maintain at least a 3.5 GPA._

_-Take at least one arts class; for example, theater, dance, voice, or visual art._

_-Most importantly, agree to tutor a student we assign to you._

_You will be given a private suite in a specific dorm building. Attached to this is a list of the offered classes. If you choose to join us, please fill out the class roster, and we will send you a schedule (and other essential papers). I hope to see you at our institution at the start of the school year. _

_Sincerely,_

_Headmaster Sontai Morot_

Elphaba absentmindedly fingered a corner of the paper. Surely this headmaster knew that she was green. _Maybe the people in the Vinkus don't care about physical differences_, she thought, but quickly batted away that small hope. _Don't wish. Don't start. What is the likeliness of that when even my own family cannot stand the sight of me?_

Another think that irritated her: the prospect of having to tutor a student. _How can someone at such an elite school do so poorly that they require tutelage?_

While she thought it ridiculous, she had to thank whatever idiot was helping her receive admittance. Why, though, was this the most important of the given conditions? She shrugged it off. It was too late to question her decisions now. She had received her schedule, room assignment, and maps only a week after sending in her information.

It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen, granted she'd never ventured far from Munchkinland. It wasn't just the colorful flora, but the people as well. The people's skin varied in (ordinary) colors. It was the tattoos that adorned their skin that caught Elphaba's eyes: spades, clovers, and hearts in all sorts of colors. Elphaba had to keep herself from staring, and part of her wondered, _Is this how others feel when they look at me? No, no that's silly. They're beautiful and _normal_ in this culture._

The small carriage her father had spared her stopped just outside the front gates of the school. "Ah, Miss. Elphaba would you like me to help you with your bags?" Boq piped from the driver's seat.

"No thank you, Boq. I only have two small bags. And you know you can just call me Elphaba. We _have_ known each other since we were small," she said, mustering up a small smile.

The smile must have been convincing because Boq hopped down from the driver's perch and reached for Elphaba. He really was a tall munchkin. "I'm going to miss you, Elphaba. I know we weren't really close friends, but you're still good to talk with. I'll miss that."

The smile on her became easier to maintain; though it was still small. "I'll miss you, too, Boq." And she meant it. He was the closest thing to a friend she'd ever had. "Could you do me a favor? Watch after Nessie for me?"

Boq nodded, and patted Elphaba on the back. "Good luck. You deserve this."

And then he was gone. For the first time since she had received the letter, Elphaba realized that she was on her own in a foreign country. No sister to look after or father to please. Elphaba took a deep breath, turned to the school, and marched through the gates determined to map out all her classes before venturing to her dorm.

This was her new life.

**Shall I continue, or should I drop it like a hot potato? Let me know in the little review box. Starting rating is T but may be bumped up to M later on.**


	2. Authors Note

**A small section of my keyboard is not functioning which is why I have not been posting recently. I never realized how much I used parentheses. I'm a bit OCD and not having a fully functioning keyboard throws me. I should be getting a mac sometime this week and am going to center most of my writing on that. Expect more updates sometime near the end of the month. I'll be done with children's theater performances, I'll have most my put-off papers done, and I'll be writing while I babysit. **

**Thank you for the continuous support. I'm really going to try to crank out some more stories, but I would rather focus on quality over quantity.**


	3. Chapter 2

Elphaba was soon realizing that her everyday black frocks would become a hassle in the Vinkus. Her skin had quickly been covered in a thin layer of sweat, but she continued on with her goal and managed to find all of her classes. She had walked and re-walked the campus to map out the quickest and most efficient paths to take her from class to class.

She stopped into the school's bookstore and pulled out her student I.D. as well as he school provided money card – a thing Elphaba found odd for a school to give a student but attributed as a part of her scholarship – and collected the books she required for classes. The young lady, Eia, whom Elphaba assumed was a student, smiled and made small talk with Elphaba. It shocked Elphaba that someone could be so seemingly unaffected by her skin.

Eia had tan skin, similar to a chunk of caramel. Across her skin sat blue diamonds, a shape Elphaba had not yet seen adorned by any of the other Vinkun citizens. Her hair was light brown and short. Elphaba was quickly realizing that many people in Kiamo Ko wore their hair extremely short, assumingly because of the heat.

Elphaba was even more shocked when Eia brought her to the back room and gave her a pair of mid thigh shorts and tank top. Upon Elphaba's insistence, Eia found her a light blue, thingsweatshirt to cover more skin in the store, and Elphaba quickly paid for it. "I always keep some extra clothes in my locker for emergencies," Eia said, "You can keep my clothes, I've got more than I can fit in my dorm anyways. Plus I'm willing to guess you have got many pairs of shorts." Elphaba let out a short laugh and nodded in the affirmative.

Elphaba left the store in a state of shock with a foreign feeling of happiness in her gut. The only friend she'd ever had was Boq, and he and she had only spoke when it came to schoolwork. Still, Elphaba wouldn't let her hopes get too high. Maybe Eia would want to show off her green skin to her friends. Even if she was being truly genuine, it didn't mean that the rest of the students would be so accepting of her green skin.

Elphaba, in clothing more suited to the temperature, set out to find her dorm. It wasn't hard. She had passed it a few times while highlighting her map. She was pleased to discover it was only around a five-minute walk from the building. She took a deep breath, tightened her grip on each bag, and walked into the building. _Fourteen G. Where are you, fourteen G?_

She turned a corner and fell to the grounds as another body slammed against her. "Ugh, watch where you," a male, irritated voice piped up but drifted off.

Elphaba sighed and sat up. The man who she'd crashed into kneeled above her, mouth agape, staring at her. His skin was the same color as Eia's, and blue diamonds scattered across his body in a similar manner. His hair was a medium brown akin to brown sugar. He was quite attractive. _Such a shame he has a staring problem. _She looked him directly in the eye, "Could you move? I can't exactly stand up with you hovering above me."

That snapped him out of his trance like manner. "My apologize," he hopped onto his feet and held his hand out to help her up. "There are only three people staying on this floor, myself included, and I was expecting one of them."

His eyes widened a bit as she slapped his hand away and pushed herself up and grabbed her bags. "Yes, and your blatant staring had nothing to do with the fact that my skin is, ohhh, I don't know-"

"So smooth and soft looking? Yes, that might have something to do with it." He smirked and gave a little wink.

Elphaba rolled her eyes to conceal the bit of shock she was feeling. No one had ever been even mildly flirtatious towards her (not even on a dare). She saw him reach to touch her face and ducked out of the way. "Well," she started, trying hard to conceal her blush, "now there are four people on this floor." She spun on her heel and continued down the hall.

She had not expected him to follow her back down the hall. "So where are you from? I'm Fiyero, by the way," he said, shoving his hand in her direction.

She ignored his hand but responded, "Munchkinland. Elphaba." She stopped in front of the door that adorned the plaque: 14G. She tried to grab the key from her pocket without putting her bags down but realized it wasn't possible.

"Do you want some help?" Fiyero asked, wearing one of his most charming smiles. Elphaba's eyes widened with a tiny bit of horror shining in her eyes. "I meant I could hold your bags!" he clarified with a chuckle. A bit of slyness worked its way back into his eyes, "Unless you'd like me to put my hand in your pocket."

She glared at him and thrust one of her bags into his arms, quickly grabbing her key and unlocking her door. She took her bag at and mumbled a quiet, "Thank you."

"No problem," he replied, watching as she pushed her door open and threw her bags in. "If you need anything I'm just down the hall!"

"Mmmhmm," she hummed back and rolled her eyes.

Fiyero felt this jab to his chest and quickly realized that his pride had just taken a hit. It was almost as if her green skin and funny accent gave her an impenetrable shield against his charm and princely-ness (and no one could tell him he wasn't princely because he was a prince which meant whatever he did was princely. That's just common knowledge).

He smiled to himself, small and genuine. She was… refreshing. She treated him normally, and he found that he didn't hate it. "14A!" he called, hoping she would hear him.

She was surprised to hear his room number a few minutes after entering the room. She figured he would have left by then. So people don't care about her skin out here so far: that didn't mean they weren't just as strange as she was. Surprisingly, she didn't hate it.

**AN: HAHAHAHA*sobs*HA. I know this is, like, 5 months later then I said. I apologize. I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses, so I'll keep my reasons to myself unless you'd like to know.**


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